Excavating-bucket



W. M. VENABLE.

EXCAVATING BUCKET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 22,1920. 1 ,350, 124, Patented Aug. 17, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

1 i i 52 e J 5. J

0 4 l0 WITNESS.- [NYE/W0 ATTORNEYS' WIT/758858 W. M. VENABLE.

EXCAVATING BUCKET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 22. 1920.

Patented Aug. 17, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PAT ENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM M. VENAIBLE, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO BLAW-KNOX -COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

EXCAVATING-BUGKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 17, 1920.

Application filed January 22, 1920. Serial No. 353,175.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. VENABLE,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsbur h, in the county of Allegheny and State of Tennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Excavating-Buckets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates in general to excavating or clam shell buckets and in particular to certain improvements by means of which the material being operated upon is more readily cut and prepared for removal by the bucket. It has for its primary object the provision of an improved construction wherein the work of cutting into and removing the material being excavated is facilitated and made more rapid and wherein each closure of the bucket in gathering material loosens and prepares the body of the remaining material for the next gathering operation. It is a further object of this invention to utilize the means whereby the foregoing results are obtained to increase the effective width of the bucket in such a way as to prevent it from tipping over when it is set down on uneven ground and the holding line slacked off. The manner in which all of the foregoing is accomplished will more clearly appear below in connection with the description of the accompanying drawings which illustrate my invention in its preferred form and wherein:

Figure l is a plan view of an excavating or clam shell bucket in open position showing my improvements embodied therein; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the bucket in its open position; Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the bucket in its open position; and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the bucket in its closed position.

The bucket I have illustrated comprises the two jaws or scoops 1 and 2, provided with suitable hinge elements 3 and 4c respectively by means of which they are pivoted together upon the rod The upper portion of the bucket mechanism is not shown inasmuch as its construction is immaterial in so far as the present invention is concerned which, it will be understood, is equally applicable to any type of excavating or clam shell bucket.

At each side and to the rear of each scoop I have provided a cutting member or plowshare 6 which may be secured to the bucket in any preferred manner. In the present instance, I have shown for this purpose, a continuous band or strip of metal 7 one for each scoop, which is bent in at the sides of the scoop and secured thereto at the points I have marked 8, and curved around the plowshares 6, as shown, and then run straight across the back of the scoop where it is braced by means of the brackets 9. The plowshares are preferably so attached that when the bucket is in open position they are disposed with their points downward, but not projectin below the cutting ed es 10 of the scoop. \Ihen the bucket is in c osed position, the points of the plowshares on each side of the bucket will come almost together, as shown in Fig. 4.

. If the plowshares be attached in the manner I have shown by means of the band of metal 7, I prefer to space this band away from the back of the scoop and to so dispose it that it will act as a supplementary cutting member or edge which will dig into the material with a spade-like action very similar to that effected by the cutting edges 10 of the bucket scoop, the material of course passing between the band and the back of the scoop and over its upper edge, but not into the bucket. This action takes place during every closing movement of the bucket and it will be apparent aids greatly in loosening and preparing the body of material remaining for the next gathering operation.

lVith respect to the plowshares, it will be seen that they enter the material substan tially vertically at a point considerably farther out from the center of the bucket than the corners of the scoops, and that as the bucket is closed they shovel into the material turning a furrow over toward the center. After the bucket is closed, it is then raised and the material which is above the plowshares slides off toward the center of the position occupied by the bucket.

By placing these cutting members at some distance to the sides and to the rear of the scoops they function, it will be seen, to pro vide two very important advantages. They loosen the material outside of the area covered by the open scoop and throw it toward the middle, thus digging a hole larger than the size of the scoop itself, both in width and in length. Furthermore the possibility of the buckets tipping over is greatly reduced, should it happen to be set down Where the material was very uneven.

This device is especially useful in connection with the digging of a deep pit especially where the work is being carried on in sand or gravel in the natural bed, it being possible to dig to almost any depth in such material, which keeps sloughing in from the side toward the center. v

This deviceis also very efiiective in digging into material which would ordinarily be too hard to permit the scoops to settle into it when the bucket is set down and where this hard material is very uneven, as before pointed out, the tendency for the bucket to tip is greatlyreduced. This last advantage is of especial importance when the device is usedon a bucket of the single line type which, of course, does not have the support of a separate holding line when it is set, down.

A further advantage incident to the invention is the reduced strain and wear imposed upon the lips of'the bucket due to the fact that the cutting. members loosen the mate rial preliminarily. to the collecting or gathering operationof the jaws. The apparatus is thus rendered more durable. 'The par ticular construction I have shown is exceedingly strong and simple,ireadily made am easily attached to any bucket. The plowsharesmay be made in separate pieces so that they may be renewed when broken or worn out. Furthermore the apparatus may be made readily detachable so that it .may be taken off when not needed.

It will, of course, be understood that the disposition of and the means for attaching the cutting elements as shown in this application is not essential in the eXact form illustrated. Any arrangement of the cutting elements which loosens the material in an area greater than that covered by the open scoop would accomplish the purpose sought, but the arrangement I have shown is the preferred one.

I claim: 1. The combination with a clam shell bucket having opposing jaws, of cutting members secured tothe jaws but spaced away therefrom. a

2. The combination with a 'clam shell bucket having opposing jaws, of a pair of plowshares secured to the jaws in such man ner as to bring their points above the level of the cutting edges of the aws when the bucket is open-and to bring their points substantially together when the bucket is closed. r v 3. In a bucket having a pair of scoops hinged together for opening and closing movement, the combination of cutting members and .means for attaching them in a spaced relation to the bucket so that upon closure of the bucket they will cut through 1 the adjacent material. 7

4e. The combination witha-bucket having a pairof scoops hinged together for opening and closing movement, of a cutting member attached thereto so as to cut a fur row in the adjacent material during closing movement and to throw the material so out toward the bucket.

5. The combination with a bucket having a pair of scoops hinged together for open-' ing and closing movement, of a cutting member attached thereto so as to out into and loosen" the adjacent material not being directly operated on by the bucket during closing movement. a.

6. The combination with a bucket having a pair of scoops hinged together for opening and closing movement, of a cutting member'attached to the back of a scoop and spaced away therefrom. a

7. The combination with a bucket having a pair of scoops hinged together for opening and closing movement, of a cutting member at each side of the bucket, and a back band across an end of the bucket but spaced away therefrom, said back band cooperating with the cutting members at the sides to loosen the material adjacent the bucket during 

